The Walletless Workweek

Over the past two months, not one week has been remotely the same.  This has caused a slight bit of stress but has been exciting and well worth it.  The main cause?  Meeting and falling in love with a pretty amazing boy.  However, we've both noticed that over the past couple of weeks, our old respective routines have pretty much been abolished.

So, during a long drive back from a weekend getaway, we talked about routine and why we want to get back into it.  The main to reasons are our wallets and waistlines.  We've been eating out (and drinking out) far too often and though it has been fun, we both agree we can still be happy and in love and all that cute stuff without spending lots of money on delicious chicken livers, not so good German pork dishes, and on pints and pints of micro-brewed beer.  

Then, naturally, what followed next in the conversation was "what's for dinner?". We both agreed “something healthy, we're getting fat”.  I happened to find an old magazine article hidden in my what-to-read folder. The article, from Women's Health, is about buying and roasting one chicken and eating it in a different way every night, from Sunday to Thursday.

Since we were both tired from eating, drinking, and driving (obviously not at the same time) for roughly fourty-eight hours straight, having a menu for the next fives days AND very orderly shopping list in front of us was very appealing.  We decided to go for it.  I decided however that I wanted to take it a little farther- buy just what I think I might need for the rest of the week, which shouldn't be much more than dinner and maybe a bottle of wine or two, and not swiping my credit card again until Friday.

This is another experiment in my going-green adventure.  I have a feeling it is going to be difficult for me.  I am pretty good about bring lunch to work but at least once a week, I am tired and forget to pack lunch or my very persuasive co-worker coerces me into buying something delicious with him (it has not been fast food though since I stopped eating it, which by the way has been unbelievably easy and basically a mindless practice).   I see the lunch hour being a potential problem.  Running out of wine might also be another pitfall.

In addition to saving trips to the store and cutting on unnecessary consumption, I hope to save money this week.  In the article that sparked this blog entry, it claims all ingredients to make the 5 meals cost $28.00.  We are on way to the store now and after we get home, I will update the actual cost for what is needed and also what I bought that I determined necessary to be happy and content until Friday.  Here we go!